The third season of the ILT20 competition comes to an end on Sunday when the top two in the regular table meet for a first title when the Dubai Capitals take on the Desert Vipers in what should be a fascinating final.
These two sides have both played in a final in this competition but were on the losing side on each occasion. One of them will go one better here and if history is anything to go by it could well be the Capitals.
Dubai Capitals
The Dubai Capitals came from nowhere to finish second in the regular standings and then although they earned two chances at making the final they went straight through courtesy of a win over this opponent in the Qualifier 1 match. Having beaten the Desert Vipers in both league meetings as well the Capitals could be forgiven for thinking that they have more than a slight edge on the Vipers going into this huge title showdown.
Generally when Dubai take on the Vipers the Capitals bowling really stands up and is counted. That wasn’t the case in Qualifier 1 but it still didn’t matter because they had plenty with the bat when it was required and having earned the maximum preparation time going into this final, the Capitals will feel good about going one better than they managed a year ago. If that is going to happen their bowling will need to continue to perform well in this particular matchup.
Desert Vipers
The Desert Vipers were the dominant force in this competition in the first stage of it but that didn’t count for anything when they competed in Qualifier 1. Ironically they put in their best batting performance of the season against the Capitals in that particular match but it still wasn’t enough to get the job done and that sent them to Sharjah for Qualifier 2. To their credit, they came out on top in a match they had little to gain and plenty to lose to make this final.
The Vipers have generally had the best bowling attack in the competition but they haven’t been able to crack the code when it comes to getting the better of the Capitals, having lost all three matches that they have played against them this term. All of those matches were when they were setting a total so they would probably love to get the chance to chase a score down even though it would come with a huge element of scoreboard pressure.
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Key Players
Gulbadin Naib has arguably been the most important player of the season for the Dubai Capitals and if he can have another big game with the bat and ball then the beaten finalists of a year ago should be in position to go one better.
Alex Hales has the potential to blast any match wide open when he had the bat in hand and if he is able to get himself in and then get expansive and put up a significant total then this could finally be the time the Vipers get the better of the Capitals.
Betting
Those who have followed me throughout this competition will be sitting nicely going into this final because we have a betting slip which has the Desert Vipers to win this match at 5/1 having backed them before a ball was bowled in the tournament. Clearly the Vipers are challengers in this match even though the Dubai Capitals have got the better of them three times out of three this season. I’m more than happy to stick with the girl I took to the dance though and let the Vipers ride out.
In terms of a bet in this final, the one I like comes in the form of the match runs for Gulbadin Naib. He seems to love this Vipers attack. In three matches against them this season he has scored 78*, 55* and 62 and that was when Wanindu Hasaranga was in the Vipers camp and he won’t need to face him here as he has left for international duty. The Afghan is clearly in brilliant form with his last seven innings being 78*, 17, 80, 2, 47, 55* and 62. When you put all that together his run line of 16.5 looks very low.
Tips
Back G.Naib – Over 16.5 runs for a 3/10 stake at 1.83 with Bet365
